The Land Before Time
The Land Before Time is an animated film, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and directed by Don Bluth. It was originally released in movie theaters in 1988 by Universal Pictures. It features anthropomorphic dinosaurs living in a somewhat fantasy-based version of prehistoric earth. The film's plot concerns a young Apatosaurus named Littlefoot who becomes orphaned after the death of his mother, caused from injuries suffered while battling an antagonistic Tyrannosaurus ("Sharptooth") and the effects of an earthquake. Littlefoot flees famine and upheaval to search for the "Great Valley", an area which has been spared devastation. During his journey, he encounters four young companions: Cera, a Triceratops; Ducky, a Parasaurolophus; Petrie, a Pteranodon; and Spike, a Stegosaurus.The Land Before Time DVD The film explores issues of prejudice between the different species and the hardships they endure in their journey as they are guided by the spirit of Littlefoot's mother. The film was a critical and financial success and spawned numerous sequels, merchandise, and a TV series. Voice Actors English Voice Cast *Gabriel Damon as Littlefoot *Candace Hutson as Cera *Judith Barsi as Ducky *Will Ryan as Petrie *Pat Hingle as the Narrator/Rooter *Helen Shaver as Littlefoot's Mother *Burke Byrnes as Topsy *Bill Erwin as Grandpa Longneck *Frank Welker as Sharptooth/Domeheads Japanese Voice Cast *Minami Takayama: Littlefoot *Maaya Sakamoto: Cera *Satomi Kōrogi: Ducky *Yūji Mitsuya: Petrie *George Nakata: Topsy NOTE: The Japanese voice actors are appearing so far. Swedish Voice Cast *Samuel Elers-Svensson - Littlefoot *Hanna Alström - Cera *Cecilia Schiöld - Ducky *Sven-Erik Vikström - Petrie *Olof Thunberg - Narrator *Sture Hovstadius - Rooter *Gunnel Fred - Littlefoot's Mother *Stephan Karlsén - Topsy *Bill Erwin - Littlefoot's Grandfather Plot The film opens with an underwater scene of fish swimming with other creatures. The narrator explains that there is a drought, and the dinosaurs are heading west for the Great Valley. During a storm, Littlefoot (an Apatosaurus) is born from a last lonely egg. He is protected by his mother, grandmother, and grandfather... all that remains of his herd. They first meet a group of friendly animals who want to congratulate Littlefoot's mother but Littlefoot is very bashful. His mother knows the animals just want to look at Littlefoot. He soon learns they are friendly and falls asleep on his mother's back. When Littlefoot is older, his mother explains that the land is changing, and that they must reach the Great Valley. She gives him a single tree star as a gift. Later, Littlefoot encounters Cera (a Triceratops). She chases an insect, which sprays her in the face. Littlefoot laughs, which angers Cera. But Cera's father interrupts, saying that "Threehorns never play with Long Necks." Littlefoot's mother explains that every species keeps to itself, and reassures Littlefoot that there will be other Longnecks in the Great Valley for him to play with. That night, Littlefoot is awoken by a frog(still with a tail) named Hopper. He chases it through a cave and meets Cera. They play with the bubbles in a pond, become friends and are attacked by Sharptooth (a Tyrannosaurus rex). They hide in a thorny growth, and Sharptooth crawls on his belly after them smelling for them. Littlefoot gets caught in some thorny vines and as he breaks free a thorn snaps back and strikes Sharptooth in his right eye, blinding him. Sharptooth leaps up after them, but Littlefoot's mother arrives and engages the carnivore. Sharptooth and Littlefoot's Mother trade blows as an earthquake erupts around them, and she is seriously injured when Sharptooth leaps on her back and rips out a tract of flesh with his jaws and cuts her neck. However, she manages to rescue Littlefoot and Cera, casting the meat eater into a deep ravine opened up by the earthquake. After the earthquake, many herds and families are separated. Littlefoot searches for his mother and finds her lying on her side, suffering from her injury, too weak to get up despite his urgings. Before she passes away, she asks Littlefoot if he remembers the way to the Great Valley, and reassures him that she'll always be with him, even if he can't see her. The next day, Littlefoot, sad, angry, and confused, slides down a ravine and falls on an armoured dinosaur named Rooter. He explains that his mother's death was nobody's fault. A pterosaur offers Littlefoot a cherry, but he's too upset to notice his hunger. Later, as he crosses a desert, a gold light shines upon him. When Littlefoot peers into his reflection, he hears his mother's voice guiding him. He understands, and leaves the desert. He meets up with Cera and asks her to join him. She refuses and slides down a chasm. Littlefoot is greeted by Ducky (a baby Parasaurolophus, also separated from her family) at a lake. Littlefoot says that longnecks don’t speak to other species, so Ducky pretends to be a Longneck. The two journey together. When Littlefoot tries to eat a raw tree, they encounter Petrie, a Pterodactyl who cannot fly. Meanwhile, Cera encounters a comatose Sharptooth. Believing him to be dead, she charges at him mischievously, accidentally awakening him. As she flees, she meets up with the others, and tries to warn them about Sharptooth. Littlefoot refuses to believe her. Cera, while describing her encounter (embellishing the story to make herself appear less cowardly), accidentally flings Ducky into a patch of grass, where she meets a hungry Stegosaurus hatchling whom she names Spike. That night after eating their lunch, Littlefoot settles down by himself, but soon Ducky, Petrie, Spike and Cera huddle with him for warmth. In the morning his treestar is crushed when Sharptooth attacks. They escape through a mountain cave, and emerge next to a rock shaped like a longneck. Littlefoot believes they are going the right way. Soon, ash falls from the sky, and they come to a volcanic wasteland. Exhausted, Cera opts for an easier path. She and Littlefoot fight after she insults his mother and his species. Littlefoot leaves the group, but he goes back to save Spike, Petrie and Ducky from a tar pit. Meanwhile, Cera is being terrorized by a group of aggressive Pachycephalosaurus. Littlefoot and the others, disguised as a giant, tar-covered monster in form of a demonic-elephant, scare them off and then terrorize her. Cera, ashamed and embarrassed about leading her friends into danger, decides to go her own way. Later on, as Littlefoot, Spike, Ducky, and Petrie are frolicking in a pond, they spot Sharptooth in the distance. In order to stop him once and for all, Littlefoot formulates a plan to lure him into the deep end of the pond and drown him by dropping a large rock on the edge of a nearby cliff onto his head. Ducky succeeds in luring Sharptooth into the water, but Littlefoot and Spike are not strong enough to move the rock. Petrie suddenly learns to fly, rescues Ducky, and attempts to distract Sharptooth. But Sharptooth notices the trap and leaps on top of the rock. Balanced precariously on the edge, he snaps at them. In the nick of time, Cera arrives and crashes into the rock, knocking it off balance just enough to send it and Sharptooth over the cliff and into the pond. Sharptooth attempts to drag Petrie down with him, and the his friends believe him to have perished. However, he escapes by a narrow margin, to the joy of Ducky and the others. After the battle, Littlefoot is on the ledge of a mountain, lamenting at his inability to find the valley, when his mother's soul appears in the form of a sauropod shaped cloud. He yells for her not to go, but as she dissipates she leads him through a cave and onto a cliff, where her soul shines a light that reveals the Great Valley. Littlefoot returns for the others, and they rejoin their relatives and live in peace for generations. Ducky finds her sisters and mother, Spike meets his new "family", Cera finds her father, Petrie finds his mother and siblings and Littlefoot finds his grandparents. Box office The film was a box office success, grossing $48 million, as well as beating the Disney film Oliver & Company for the Number 1 spot during its opening weekend. It has since brought in a box office total of nearly $50 million during its domestic release, more than Don Bluth's previous film, An American Tail. The movie became a hit worldwide, grossing nearly $84 million worldwide,www.boxofficmojo.com Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. which Oliver & Company did not surpass. It got two thumbs up by Siskel and Ebert. Reception The Land Before Time received a 77% at Rotten Tomatoes.com.Rotten Tomatoes.com's synopsis of The Land Before Time www.rottentomatoes.com Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. Geoff Andrew, on Timeout.com gave it a six out of ten rating, and said that Don Bluth could have made a better film than TLBT. Andrew complained that it wasn't educational enough for kids, what with the dinosaurs not being referred to with their scientific names.Geoff Andrew's review on The Land Before Time www.timeout.com Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. Janet Maslin of the New York Times said that Don Bluth had a fondness for making his characters overly-cute, but that it worked to the benefit in this movie.Janet Maslin's review on The Land Before Time movies.nytimes.com Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. Hal Hinson, of The Washington Post, said that the film was entertaining, but not good enough to be considered a classic film. However, he praised it for not having the dinosaurs occasionally "pick up guitars and launch into dinosaur renditions of rock songs", like The Chipmunks and Care Bears.Hal Hinson's review on The Land Before Time (November 18th, 1988) www.washingtonpost.com Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. The Sci-fi Movie Page rated it with two stars, and said called it "not exactly much better than most Saturday morning kid television shows. They also commented briefly on the "numerous" amount of straight-to-video sequels it spawned.Sci-fi Movie Page's review on The Land Before Time www.scifimoviepage.com Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. In Mark R. Leeper (of the Internet Movie Database)'s review, the capsule reads "Apparently inspired by the art of William Stout, THE LAND BEFORE TIME is short on characterization as well as screen time. The idea of doing a Disney-style cartoon with dinosaurs as characters was a good one, but THE LAND BEFORE TIME does not deliver enough. Rating: low +1."Mark R. Leeper's review on The Land Before Time www.imdb.com - review 0447 Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. Roger Ebert said in his review that The Land Before Time made a strategic error in its attempt to attract children, as he believes that it destroys the distinction between children and dinosaurs (he earlier describes the two as being very similar). He also thought TLBT copied a lot of previous animated movies, and was not surprised that it was written by the writers of An American Tail. He also said the film was too apocalyptic and tragic, with all the death and implications of death occuring, as well as the erupting volcanoes and drought, and famine in the film.Roger Ebert's review on The Land Before Time (November 18th, 1988) rogerebert.suntimes.com Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. Interestingly, Ebert mistook Littlefoot to be "the last of his species", even though Pat Hingle, the narrator, had said Littlefoot was the last of his herd. Steve Rhode's said on Internet Movie Database that this was his favourite of all the TLBT films, and that while it does not have the same effort put into the animations as a Disney film would likely have, he still thinks that the designs and the music, including the song "If We Hold On Together", have a warm and natural beauty.Steve Rhode's review on The Land Before Time www.imdb.com - review 4961 Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. In general, the film seems to have received better reviews than its direct-to-video sequels, with Rhode's in particular saying in his review on The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists that TLBT's sequels were "purely formulaic", and that the film was suffering from the "excessive sequel syndrome".Internet Reviews critic Steve Rhodes' review of Journey Through the Mists (25-07-2002) uk.rottentomatoes.com - Steve Rhodes' review Retrieved on April 1st, 2008. Awards/Nominations In 1989, The Land Before Time was nominated for a Young Artist Award, for Best Family Animation or Fantasy Motion Picture. One year later, it received a Saturn nomination for Best Fantasy Film. Production Notes Steven Spielberg and George Lucas originally wanted the film to have no dialogue, like The Rite of Spring sequence in Fantasia, but the idea was abandoned in favor of using voice actors in order to appeal to children.[http://www.cataroo.com/DBland.html The Animated Films of Don Bluth] by Jon Cawley It was George Lucas's idea to make Cera a female Triceratops.[http://www.cataroo.com/DBland.html The Animated Films of Don Bluth] The end credits for the film featured the hit song "If We Hold On Together" by Diana Ross, the only lyrical song in the original film. Animation Production took place at Sullivan Bluth Studios in Dublin, Ireland. Editing of the film Like Disney's The Black Cauldron and The Jungle Book, which was made three years earlier, and Warner Bros./Zoetrope's The Outsiders, which was made five years earlier, The Land Before Time went under a severe cutting and editing of footage. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas thought that some scenes in the movie would appear too frightening or could even cause psychological damage to young children. Around 10 minutes of footage, a total of 19 fully animated scenes, were cut from the final film. A lot of the cut footage consisted of the Tyrannosaurus rex attack sequence and sequences of the five young dinosaurs in severe situations of peril and negative stress. Don Bluth was unhappy with the cuts, and fought for all the footage, but in the end he had to settle on a final running time of 69 minutes, one of Don Bluth’s shortest; in fact one of the shortest feature films ever produced (depending on how "feature film" is defined)..[http://www.cataroo.com/DBland.html The Animated Films of Don Bluth] by Jon Cawley As of today, the original cut of the film with the removed scenes has not been released on video or DVD. Another part of the movie that was going to be eliminated was the death of Littlefoot’s mother. However, it was thought that if the scene were removed it would simply produce problems in explaining why Littlefoot had to journey to the Great Valley alone. In the end, psychologists were shown the scene and gave feedback to the production team. The character of Rooter was brought in to the story to soften the emotional blow, and teach Littlefoot and the audience that although loved ones may die, they are always with us in the lessons we have learned from them.[http://www.cataroo.com/DBland.html The Animated Films of Don Bluth] Shortly after the information was released, a rumor was spread that all five of the young dinosaurs died, with the Great Valley as an interpretation of heaven, as one of the deleted scenes. However, this has been denied by Don Bluth, who said the ending used was always the intended one. Some scenes with the characters in the movie screaming were revoiced with them having milder exclamations.[http://www.cataroo.com/DBland.html The Animated Films of Don Bluth] Songs There is only one lyrical song in The Land Before Time; called "If We Hold On Together". It was sung by Diana Ross, and became a hit. In Popular Culture *The 75th and 77th Academy Awards contain James Horner's music from The Land Before Time. *The webcomic xkcd refers to Littlefoot's mother's death in its 233rd issue. *The plot of the Disney film Dinosaur (a multi-species herd must work together to search across a barren wilderness for a verdant valley safe from carnivores) was extremely similar to the plot of The Land Before Time. *At the beginning of [[wikipedia:Beethoven's 3rd|Beethoven's 3rd,]] there are VHS covers for the first five films in The Land Before Time film series seen in the background of the video store. Later, there are shots from The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock. *The trailer for another Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment animated film, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story contains instrumental music from The Land Before Time. Both We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story and The Land Before Time were composed by James Horner.New York Time's Trailer's for We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story movies.nytimes.com - We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story/Trailers Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. *''An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island'' contains James Horner's music from The Land Before Time and Michael Tavera's music from The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure and The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists. Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure contains Michael Tavera music from The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze. All of these films are composed by Michael Tavera, who also composed the scores for the sequels, and one of the films have James Horner's music from An American Tail, The Land Before Time, and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. *The theatrical trailer for the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment live-action/computer-animated film Casper contains the instrumental music of the song If We Hold On Together from The Land Before Time. Both Casper and The Land Before Time were composed by James Horner. *The video trailer for another Universal Pictures film, Lorenzo's Oil contains James Horner's instrumental music of the song If We Hold On Together from The Land Before Time. Trivia * This is the only Land Before Time film that is not a musical. * This is the only film staring Gabriel Damon as Littlefoot, Judith Barsi as Ducky, Will Ryan as Petrie, Burke Byrnes as Topsy (known as Daddy Topps), Bill Erwin as Grandpa Longneck, and the only film to be narrated by Pat Hingle. Inaccuracies *The dinosaurs featured existed in different time periods. Apatosaurus and Stegosaurus existed in the late Jurassic period, while Triceratops, Pteranodon, Parasaurolophus and Tyrannosaurus existed in the late Cretaceous period. Therefore, the period where this film takes place is unspecified. *As far as we know, some of the dinosaurs might not have cared for their young, particularly Apatosaurus. *Pteranodon ate fish and lived near beaches and coastal areas, didn't have teeth, and could not climb trees. *Tarpits are not just giant pools of tar, they are supposed to have a layer of water and sand this way the creature being fooled would not realize it was a trap. Also tarpits did not form during the age of the dinosaurs, they formed during the Cenozoic era. *A Dimetrodon appears once in the film, which would have been extinct before the dinosaurs appeared. Also Dimetrodon was bigger than the way it is depicted in the film. *Pachycephalosaurus were not carnivores. However, in the sequels they are seen in the Great Valley so they might not have been trying to eat Cera. They could've been defending their territory, or trying to eat Cera because of their starvation *Grass is often seen in the series, and did not grow until the cenozoic, shortly after the dinosaurs died out (there was grass ancestors found in titanosaur dung). *Young Triceratops had no horns when hatched other than a small pick to help break the egg. All the ceratopsians that are seen hatching have proper horns on their head. *When any animal is ready to hatch from it's egg it takes a few hours for it to come out completely. *Tyrannosaurus couldn't jump the way it did in the movie. *Tyrannosaurus did not stand up straight, according to current paleontological thought. Character Debuts *Recurring characters: **Littlefoot **Cera **Ducky **Petrie **Spike **Grandma and Grandpa Longneck **Topsy **Mama Swimmer **Ducky's siblings **Papa Swimmer **Mama Flyer **Petrie's Siblings *One-off characters **Cera's mother **Most of Cera's siblings (a few were later seen in The Time of the Great Giving **Rooter **The original Sharptooth **Littlefoot's mother (deceased) *Species' Debuts: **Apatosaurus **Triceratops **Parasaurolophus **Pteranodon **Struthiomimus **Tyrannosaurus **Dimetrodon (Only appearance) **Stegosaurus **Diplodocus **Pachycephalosaurus Memorable Quotes Littlefoot *We did it. We did it together. *(to Cera) Go on! Go the wrong way! We never wanted you with us anyway! *Oh, you can't quit now. What if the Great Valley's just over the top of these rocks? *(last original lines) Now we'll always be together. (Note: This line was removed from the entire film.) Cera *My father told me that flatheads had very small brains. *See? I can take care of myself all by myself. I'm not afraid to be alone, I know my way to go, AND I'm not afraid of Sharp Tooth... I hope he doesn't eat any of you! *I'M gonna find MY OWN green food! (walks off) Ducky *Petrie, do not feel sad. It is alright. Many things cannot fly. Rocks, trees, sticks, Spike... *(repeated line) Yep yep yep. *Spike, do not stop! We must stay together! *You are a spiketail...so we will call you Spike! *(trying to coax Spike out of his egg) You should come out. You should. You are late. Yes, you are. Yep yep yep. Petrie *You've got a nice flat head, flathead. *Littlefoot, Ducky and Spike save him from the tar pit Flathead! Ducky! Spike! Oh, Petrie is so happy! *(Trying to smell for green food) Me smell, Me smell, Me smeeelllll.....hmm, Ducky. Littlefoot's Mother *Let your heart guide you. It whispers so listen carefully. *Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart. Topsy (only known as "Daddy Topps" in this film) *Come, Cera, threehorns never play with longnecks. Rooter *The Great Circle of Life has begun, but, you see, not all of us arrive together at the end. Narrator *Cera was still too proud to admit that she'd gone the wrong way. cries *All that remained of his herd was his mother, grandmother and his grandfather. He knew them by sight, by scent, and by their love. He knew they would be together, always. *At first, Littlefoot could only think about his mother. He hardly noticed his hunger and had forgotten about the Great Valley and that he must somehow reach it. *Then Littlefoot knew for certain he was alone, and although the Great Valley was far away, the journey there was perilous. He would have to find his way, or the chain of life would be broken. *So the five hungry dinosaurs set off for the Great Valley. There had never been such a herd before. A long neck, a three-horn, a big mouth, a flyer and a spike-tail all together, all knowing that if they lost their way, they would starve or find themselves in Sharp Tooth's shadow. *Littlefoot had been wrong about the Sharptooth, but the others followed him. They're only hope was to reach the Great Valley, and Littlefoot alone knew the way. *Though, they were sourced out and tired, Littlefoot urged them on. He'd never seen the Great Valley, but his heart told him that they were close. Surely, at the top, they'd behold it, finally. *And Littlefoot found his grandmother and grandfather at last. The same loving faces he looked into on the day of his birth. *(last released lines) And they all grew up together in the valley, generation upon generation, each passing on to the next. The tale of their ancestor's journey to the valley long ago. Home Video Release History *September 14, 1989 (VHS and laserdisc) *July 13, 1994 (VHS and laserdisc) *February 20, 1996 (VHS and laserdisc) *May 13, 1997 (VHS and laserdisc - The Land Before Time Collection) *October 14, 1997 (VHS and laserdisc) *November 18, 1997 (DVD by DTS) *December 1, 1998 (VHS and laserdisc, the last laserdisc release - Universal Family Features) *May 4, 1999 (DVD) *December 3, 2003 (VHS and DVD - 15th Anniversary Edition, 4 Movie Dino Pack (Volume 1), and 9 Movie Dino Pack) *March 20, 2007 (DVD - 2-Pack with Curious George) *November 6, 2007 (DVD - Animated Family Favorites 3-Movie Collection; this DVD also contains An American Tail and Balto)www.homevideo.universalstudios.com Retrieved on April 19th, 2008. Gallery References External Links *The Land Before Time at the Internet Movie Database. *[http://www.retrojunk.com/details_movies/1368---the-land-before-time/ The Land Before Time at RetroJunk.com] *Soundtrack audio clips Category:Land Before Time Movies Category:Good Articles